The Rose With Thorns
by TheHuntedHuntress
Summary: The Vytal Festival is coming up but Ruby doesn't want to paticipate in the tornament. Closing herself off from everyone who trys to figure out why. Can her teammates figure out what's going on with their leader or will they be too late? Eventual pairings but thats all you're getting out of me. Enjoy!
1. The Day Off

The warm feeling from the sunlight let Blake breathe a sigh of relief. It had been a long time since she could just relax, sitting underneath a tree, and read a book. Enjoying a day off was something she seldom got to enjoy anymore. Between a rambunctious partner, an over reactive teammate, and a hyperactive leader there was rarely ever any quite time. As much as she hated to admit it being around the three had slowly began to get her to open up.

Six months. It had been six months since she had arrived at Beacon. It still amazed her as to how much can happen in such a short amount of time. Between initiation, being put on a team with three other girls, meeting more people than she would ever like to deal with in such a short amount of time, revealing herself as a faunus, an extreme food fight, and most importantly the Breach. Slowly, she began to adjust to constant motion her days seemed to be filled with. It was a rarity to be able to slip away from everyone and just have some time to herself.

The hours seemed to fly by all at once. Closing her book she looked around to see that dusk was starting to set in. Letting out a small groan upon standing up Blake raised her hands clasped together above her head to stretch out her back eliciting a small moan as she felt the relief of finally moving flood her body.

Realizing she had missed dinner she decided to head to the student kitchen to try and make herself a snack before bed. With a destination now in mind Blake started walking back to the massive building in front of her.

As she was approaching the doorway she figured a tuna salad sandwich would be her best option. It wasn't an actual meal but would keep her from waking up later in the night starving. Gathering her supplies to create her favourite snack she set to work.

After finishing her sandwich Blake decided to text Yang to see if anyone wanted anything while she was there so she could spare them from making a pointless trip.

After several minutes of no response she decided that she had waited long enough and began to navigate her way back to the room she shared with her team. Drifting down the hallways at such a leisurely pace caused Blake to unknowingly smile slightly. It was such blessing to not have to listen to her teammates argue while going from point A to point B.

*Crash!*

' _Oh you have got to be kidding me.'_ Blake though to herself. _' I guess all good things must come to an end eventually.'_

Cautiously opening the door Blake ducked just in time to avoid being hit by a book that was aimed at the door. She looked up to see her leader almost in tears. While books and papers seemed to be thrown about the room.

"I am _sooo_ sorry Blake! I didn't mean to! This assignment is just really stressing me out. I swear I've read it like 3,000 times and I just can't seem to understand it!" The red cloaked girl said frantically.

"Ruby, it's alright. Just be glad it wasn't Weiss walking through the door, or you would have a lot more problems than just an assignment." Blake stated softly. "Speaking of whom where is she? And Yang for that matter."

The girl in front of her seemed to shrink in on herself and fresh tears started to swell in her eyes threatening to spill over. However the red headed girl did everything in her power not to look at her teammate standing in front of her in fear of what had transpired two hours before. "WeissandYanggotinanargumentbecauseWeisswasyellingatmeagain." She squeaked out in a single breath.

"I'm sorry. Run that by me again. I didn't catch that." Blake stated while taking a few steps towards the cowering girl.

Ruby sighed but repeated herself more slowly. "Weiss and Yang got into an argument because Weiss was yelling at me again. After that they both stormed out of the room and now I'm stuck here trying to understand this assignment and I can't really do that while I worry about both of them. But I know that if I leave to go check on them Weiss will just yell more."

Blake reached out and put a hand on the younger girls shoulder. "Ruby I know you're worried about them but I believe that this is something that will work out on its own." Ruby was about to interject but stopped when Blake raised her hand. "I also believe that you should get back to your homework. So, I'll make you a deal that will help put your mind at ease. I'll go and look for them and see what's going on and bring them back here so we can all talk about what happened and once we are finished with that I'll personally help you finish whatever needs to be done but, you have to promise to try to get some of it done by the time I bring them back."

Poking her two index fingers together silver eyes lazily trailed upwards from the floor to meet amber. "Would you really do that for me Blake?" Ruby asked so quietly that Blake may not have heard it if she wasn't a faunus.

"Ruby, although I may not be as open as the rest of you I'm still apart of this team. So yes, I really will do this for you." Before Blake could continue Ruby had her arms wrapped around the cat faunus's midsection giving her a hug that could rival Yang's.

"I.. can't.. breathe.. Ruby..." Blake struggled to say as she wormed her way out of her leaders grasp. "If I'm not back within the hour with the both of them I'll send you a message as to what's taking so long."

With that Blake started to open the door leading to the hallway. Sparing one last glance at Ruby all Blake could think was how much she hated to see the always cheerful girl so upset. She knew Weiss was the residential bitch of the group but she had thought that things were going better between the group since the Breach happened. While they had all begun to take their studies more seriously it had been awhile since Weiss had lashed out on Ruby.

"Well there's only one way to figure this out. Might as well find them and get this over with so I can help Ruby finish her assignment and then we can all get to bed at a decent hour." Blake mumbled to herself. "Guess I'll check the gym first since Yang will be the easiest to deal with."

Walking at a slightly faster pace than normal Blake reached the hallway to the gym within a matter of minutes. However, the closer she got to her destination she realized that this was going to be a lot more difficult than she had originally thought.

 _'Well at least I don't have to go out of my way to look for Weiss too.'_ Blake thought to herself.

"GET BACK HERE AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED PRINCESS! I'M NOT FINISHED YET!" Yang's voice carried down the empty hallway.

Blake entered the room to see Weiss walking away from Yang.

The flames around the blond seemed to get even larger as she made a mad dash at the heiress.

 _'Bad move Yang.'_ Blake thought with a subtle smirk gracing her lips as she neared them.

Just as Yang was about to connect with the back of Weiss's skull something stopped her arm dead in its track. Before she could even realize what was happening she looked up to see a smirking Blake.

Crimson eyes faded to lilac in utter disbelief and confusion but, before she had the chance to have her voice heard she was being pulled closer to the object she wanted to destroy. Weiss.

"What in Remnant do you think you're doing Blake?" Weiss seethed.

"Oh just trying your dominant arms together so you can't hurt each other on our walk back to the dorm room." Blake said with a devious smirk. "And I don't want to hear a word from either of you until we get there. You both have Ruby so worried that she was in tears when I got to the room."

Yang was about to retort but shut her mouth just as quickly as she opened it when she saw the glare coming from her partner. Weiss released an audible huff in annoyance.

"Well then. Shall we?" Blake asked as she gave the girls a slight push forward so she could keep an eye on them.

Aside from the dirty looks the polar opposites shot each other the were both perfectly silent as they made the trek back to the dorm room. That is until they had to walk around a corner and Yang attempted to trip Weiss.

"Seriously Yang? You're out of my vision for not even a second and you try to continue this stupid fight the two of you have going on." Blake said shooting her partner a scowl. "Ugh finally. Were here. Yang sit on my bed and Weiss sit on yours. Ruby wants to work this all out."

After she heard the grunts of recognition from the two she opened the door. Ruby was still sitting at her desk completely focused on her work that she didn't even notice the trio walk in.

"Hey Ruby, look what I caught." Blake said as she tugged on the ribbon connected to Gambol Shroud. Behind her Yang and Weiss were pulled further into the room.

"Just a minute Blake. I need to finish reading this page." Ruby said absentmindedly as she continued to read. "Wait.."

Ruby turned around so quickly that the desk behind her was showered with a few stray rose petals. "How did you get them back here so fast?" She questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Yang and Weiss awkwardly lifted their wrapped arms. "Apparently kitty's got some skill." the blond said sheepishly.

Blake scoffed before answering Ruby's question. "Well I caught this one mid-swing while she was about to bash the Princess's head in." She looked at Weiss. "You're welcome by the way.

Her statement was met with a huff as the heiress looked away.

"Well now that we're all here. Can we get this over with so I can help you finish your assignment?" Blake questioned.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Blake do you even know what any of this is about?"

Slightly taken aback by her question Blake slowly shook her head. She knew that Ruby said it started with Weiss yelling at her but didn't think to question it further figuring it had to do with her studies.

Three pairs of eyes turned towards their leader. "Ruby, can you tell me what exactly is going on?" Blake stated slowly so as to not startle the girl in front of her.

Ruby's line of vision became filled with her boots as she started to drag her toe across the ground. "I don't want to participate in the Vytal tournament." She said in a low voice.

 **Author's note: Ahhh a cliffhanger! I absolutely love when a story starts this way. I know this first chapter is rather short but there's a method to this madness. Don't worry, further chapters will be longer. I promise not to make you guys and gals wait too long for the next chapter considering most of it is typed already. Just to let all you awesome people know that there will be eventual pairings in this story but it will be done slowly. I hate when people tend to rush a good story just to get some fluff into it. Well that's all for now. Fav/Follow/Reviews welcome. Let me know what you think so far!**


	2. Confrontation

The silence that fell over the room was truly suffocating. ' _Although I'm not sure if they heard me or not.'_ So Ruby decided it best to repeat herself. "I don't want to participate in the Vytal tournament." She said with a little more conviction. Unshed tears starting to well in her eyes. Looking to the floor the red clad girl began to shuffle in her spot.

Again her statement is met with silence. Yang has her hand behind her head slightly scratching it, trying to figure out what to say. ' _What can she say though? I know I'm letting my team down by opting out of the tournament but they don't understand. Nobody could ever understand. I wish I could explain it all to them but I just can't. Not yet anyway.'_

As she waits for the rest of the team to say something, anything really, Ruby takes a step back. Then another. Having taken three steps she starts to turn away. She didn't know what she was doing but her mind was a jumbled mess. _'I need to get out of here..'_

Turning to the door Ruby feels her cloak caught on something. Giving it a gentle tug so as to not damage it she becomes confused as to why it hasn't come free. Looking down the length of her most cherished possession Ruby trys to figure out why she's stuck in her current spot.

 _'A hand? Who?..'_ Her thoughts trailed off as she lazily trailed her eyes up the arm to see who it belonged to. _'Blake? But why would she..'_

Looking up, completely tear filled silver eyes met concerned gold. As Blake released the cloak she slowly raised her hand to set it on Ruby's shoulder. Or she would have if the younger girl didn't visibly flinch and immediately snap her eyes shut.

"Ruby." A voice says. "Why don't you want to participate this year?"

Carefully looking up to meet Blake's gaze again Ruby had to attempt to swallow the knot stuck in her throat. "I.. I can't say. It's nothing to worry about though. I promise.."

Slowly using her sleeves, Ruby wiped the tears from her face. She didn't know when they actually started to fall but there was no way of stopping them now. "I'm sorry but I just can't talk about it right now. I know you're all upset with me right now but I hope one day you can all forgive me."

"You are _such_ a dunce Ruby Rose! Do you understand what this means for all of us just because you don't want to participate? We can't do the team matches. Which means we can't have a chance at winning anything other than the singles matches. Everyone knows those are just a joke. Everyone judges us as groups and with you being so childish about this matter we will be the laughing stalk of Beacon! Do you _know_ how that will make my family name look? How that will make _me_ look?!" Weiss screamed the the redhead.

"Let her the hell alone Ice Queen!" Yang yelled as she pulled her bound arm, along with the heiress, towards the ground.

"What the hell Yang!" The heiress squealed as she hit the ground. After giving the offending blond one of her signature glares she stood up and straightened out her attire. "I'm sorry but this is the most ridiculous idea your sister has ever had. You said so yourself! She won't even give her all high and mighty big sister an explanation as to why she doesn't want to partake in this years tournament!"

To say Ruby looked at Yang with utter disbelief would be an understatement but, when her sisters eyes failed to meet her own she knew that she had to ask. She had to give Yang the benefit of the doubt. "Yang.. Is this true?"

Again her left arm reached for the back of her head. "Look I'm sorry sis but this does seem silly. Even for you."

 _'Even for me.'_ Ruby thought.

Before Yang could even retract what she said her sister was gone. Leaving behind a trail of rose petals leading straight to the window.

Pushing her semblance to new heights it wasn't long until Ruby had to stop and catch her breath. The lights of the city just coming into view. Exactly how long had she been at this? It doesn't matter now. She just needed to get out of there before she accidentally said something that she knew would make all of this worse.

Watching the bright lights off in the distance Ruby seemed to only be but a mile from the city. Surely a night alone would help her calm down and possibly get this all under control again.

 _'Night to myself? Crap!'_

As soon as her thought process caught up to her she began digging into her combat skirts pocket. Pulling out her scroll she began to look around. "Okay Ruby. Seems we're about a mile from Vale and Yang isn't that fast of thinker unless she's fighting. Which means I still have some time until she thinks to track my location. Think Ruby, think! What should I do with the scroll? They can still track me even if it's turned off.."

Deciding the best course of action was to leave her phone where she was she looked around for some place to hide it. "Well there not much out here aside from a few bushes. I guess that will have to work for tonight. I hope it doesn't start raining before Yang finds it though.."

* * *

Blake stood by Ruby's desk completely dumbfounded as to what had just transpired. Absent mindedly reaching out to catch a rose petal before it could hit the ground. However before it landed in her palm Yang's voice caught her attention.

"Blake, can you untie us so I can go look for my sister?" Yang's question oozed with regret.

"I'll untie the two of you but do you think it's smart to go after her? I mean after how you worded that I don't think that you're someone she wants to see right now Yang." Blake deadpanned as she walked over to untie the two girls. "Besides, she's been gone a few minutes. There's no way we could catch up to her."

"Well I have to do something Blake! I can't just leave my baby sister running away from us in the middle of the night. She's just a kid Blake.." Yang's voice was barely above a whisper and thick with an emotion that was difficult figure out.

"I for one don't have time for her childish games. I need to finish my homework and get my beauty rest." Weiss stated as she crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "I'll be heading to the library while the two of you sort this mess out."

"Whatever Ice Princess. I mean it's not like she's always there for you when you need someone. Oh wait, she is. Can't you ever think of someone other than youself for even one second?" Yang stated through gritted teeth.

"Wait, you expect me, Weiss Schnee, to feel any sort of remorse for that childish dolt running off? When all of this is her fault to begin with?" Weiss said standing as tall as she could mere inches from Yang's face.

Yang let out an audible huff. "Way to prove my point. Blake are you going to help me find Rubes or are you going to be a prude as well?"

"Yang how will we even find her? She could be anywhere." Blake said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Not that I'm saying no to helping you find her."

"First of all, did that stop her from looking for you when the whole you being a kitty cat thing went down? No. It didn't but it's funny you should ask really. When we were little dad had tracking chips put into our scrolls so he could make sure we went to school and whatnot." Yang said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

Blake's mood obviously sunk a bit at the mention of the incident but was quickly replaced with a slight smirk. "By 'we' you wouldn't happen to mean you and Ruby's wasn't just an in case of emergency type of thing would you?" Blake said with slight amusement.

"Potato, tomato. Either way, I already have her location pulled up. It looks like she stopped just outside of Vale which means we can go and get her and be back within an hour but, we need to get moving now if we have any hope of catching her." The blond said holding up her scroll so her partner could see.

"Yang you do realize that not how the saying goes.. You know what never mind. Let's just get going. I'm already starting to get a headache from all of this and trying to explain to you how you're wrong will just give me a full blown migraine." Blake said as she held up both hands in submission.

As the pair headed for the doorway leading to the hall they both decided it fitting to give the white haired girl a nasty look.

After several minutes of silence and quite a distance of walking Yang decided to speak up. "I just don't get it Blakey. We all know how excited Ruby has been for the tournament. Why would she just not want to do it anymore?"

Blake seemed to ponder her partners question for a few seconds before responding. "Well I don't know if you've realized it or not but she has been doing a lot of unusual things lately. Like how she never wants to go to Vale anymore or how she hasn't been eating as much. How she flinched away from me. It could be something or maybe she's just really stressed out."

Nodding along to everything Blake was saying Yang ceased her walking as she looked to her partner. "I've noticed that too but I just figured it was from the stress of the Breach. I mean it was shortly after that she started acting.. Ahh what's the word I'm looking for.."

"Closed-off?" Blake offered.

Nodding once again Yang continued. "Yeah something like that. I don't know. Now that we're talking about it something seems way off with Ruby. I can't believe that I'm just now noticing it though."

"So it's been about three months since this has started. Give or take a few weeks." Blake replied.

"Huh that's weird." Yang stated slowly.

"I'm surprised as well Yang." Blake said looking out towards the road.

Yang shook her head. "No, not that. I mean Ruby hasn't moved from where she is. Like at all. I'm gonna try calling her really quick just to see if she answers."

Pulling up Ruby's contact information Yang hit the call button only to have her call go straight to voicemail. "Shit!" Yang yelled. "No, no, no, no, no. She figured out we would track her Blake! Shit!"

"Maybe Ruby just forgot to charge her scroll again Yang. Let's just go to where it says she is. If she isn't there maybe she just wants to be alone for the night. I know it helped me when I ran away. And before you start freaking out we both know Ruby wouldn't just run away without having a plan as to what to do." Blake said as she put a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder.

"I guess so.." Yang mumbled.

* * *

Ruby was making her way quickly through Vale. She needed to find a place to stay before anyone saw her. Looking up and down the streets she was walking she found a decent looking hotel. Well hotel was a bit of a strong word for this building. While the outside of it looked rather decent she knew what the inside held.

Quickly turning down the opposite street her feet carried her a little more quickly. While she couldn't use her semblance to get away from there, there was no way she could just walk away from that awful place.

After carefully and quickly making her way to the other side of town the red cloaked girl found a twenty-four hour coffee shop. _'This place doesn't look too bad I guess.'_ The redhead thought to herself.

Finally finding somewhere to hangout for a few hours, Ruby sat down at a booth on the far side. With her hands clasped on the table in front of her she let her thoughts drift back to when this all started.

 _It all seemed to happen so fast. Blake running away for a few days, the Breach, Him.._

Ruby was pulled away from her thoughts as the waitress stood impatiently in front of her. "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?" She said with a sheepish grin on her face. It was quite a common thing for Ruby to get lost in her thoughts but, she didn't want the waitress to think she was being rude.

The features on the waitress' face seemed to calm slightly. "I asked if there was anything I could get for you."

"Umm.. You wouldn't happen to have some milk and cookies, would you?" Ruby did her best not to give the waitress her signature puppy dog face but it still managed to grace her features.

The waitress looked at Ruby and quickly looked away. "I'll see if will still have some cookies from earlier today." The waitress mumbled as she began to walk away. Damn kids and their ability to imitate a hurt puppy.

 **Author's Note: I am sooo sorry for the wait everyone! I know I said I would have this up soon after the first chapter but my cousin and I decided on a last minute camping trip and we just got home. Well I'm going to try and create a schedule for this story. Probably won't have a set day for it but I'm going to aim for once a week at the very least. Any suggestions on something you would like to see happen just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do. Until next time! Thank you!**


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